1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to outdoor sporting goods. More specifically, the present invention relates to recreational devices for riding, sliding, gliding and other transportation over a snow-covered surface.
2. Related Art
Many different devices are known for recreational transportation over a snow-covered surface. The two most common devices on ski slopes today are traditional skis and traditional snowboards. Skis have the benefit of having a smaller surface in contact with the snow, thereby producing less drag. Skis also place the user""s feet an inch or so away from the surface on the snow and spread his/her weight over a longer base, thereby creating a low center of gravity. Skis are well-known for their ability to corner and carve more effectively than snowboards. Skis""versatility and mobility is due to their narrow riding surface and the utilization of two riding edges when turning or carving, as compared to the one edge used by a snowboard. Snowboards are popular, especially with younger users, for their differences from skis and their ease of transport and economy.
One of the major disadvantages of a snowboard is that, due to the fact that the rider is riding a single board, it takes more strength to carve and turn, because the rider has to kick use both upper and lower body to turn. Also, since the snowboard must have such a wide riding surface, the rider ends up doing more sliding instead of riding when traveling on hard-packed snow.
Patent literature describes several devices with runners for transportation across an ice-covered surface. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,722 (Jacobsen) discloses a collapsible bobsled comprising a seating platform having four runners; U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,565 (Mogannam) discloses a recreational device having runners; U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,029 (Mayes) discloses an iceboard. However, none of these devices are useful for transportation across a snow-covered surface, such as a ski slope.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,091 (Chadwick) discloses a snowboard with four skis running under a board. However, Chadwick fails to disclose a snowboard having both an independent suspension and independent steering.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,728 (Barthel, et al.) discloses a gliding board for siding across a snow-covered surface. However, the Barthel, et al. board uses a pair of runners rather than four runners.
What is still needed, therefore, is a device for recreational transportation over a snow-covered surface having benefits of: a broad, single board for the user to stand upon; a smaller board surface in contact with the snow-covered surface; the multiple riding surfaces of skis; the turning, carving and cornering abilities of skis; and independent steering. The present invention addresses these needs.
The present invention is a ski-snowboard device, which comprises a single board for a user to stand upon, and a smaller board surface in contact with a snow-covered surface such as the multiple riding surfaces of skis; wherein the device exhibits the benefits of independent steering and the benefits of turning, carving and cornering similar to those of skis.
The present invention has an elongated board with multiple skis or runners mounted preferably in pairs to the underside of the body, one pair near the front and one pair near the rear of the board. The skis of each pair are laterally-spaced and parallel to each other. Preferably, the right skis of both pairs are in a single line parallel to the length of the board and the left skis of both pairs are in a single line parallel to the length of the board. The four runners are generally parallel to the length of the board and give the board four separate riding surfaces.
The invented board has paired steering, wherein the two front skis are both connected to and cooperate with a first steering system and the two rear skis are both connected to and cooperate with a second steering system. The invented board preferably also includes independent suspension for each ski. The preferred steering system and suspension are important in reaching the many performance objectives of the invention: better handling, smoother turning, shorter turning radiuses, better cornering and carving, better performance in hard-packed snow or deep powder, and smoother transversing of moguls, when compared to existing devices for transportation across a snow-laden surface.
The preferred elongated board is preferably approximately the same length as the common skateboard, but may vary in length and shape depending on the use. For example, freestyle boards and all-mountain/directional (slalom) style boards according to the invention are envisioned. The preferred board also includes deep, radiused or generally semicircular side cuts in its two side edges, unlike the straight side edges found in conventional skateboard designs. The inventor also envisions that special compositions/layers of material may be developed for various boards for specialized performance, according to the invention.